UEFA Cup Final: It’s Zenit vs. Rangers

By: Laurie | May 1st, 2008

The thing I love most about the UEFA cup is its diversity. Because there are so many routes to qualification, you never know who’s going to end up on top.

Unlike Champions League. (No all-EPL final here. And hurray for that!)

Who would have guessed, at the beginning of the season, that in the championship game we’d have the top Scottish club against the side that is currently in twelfth place in the Russian league? And who would have guessed that I’d think that the Russian side was the one that most deserved to be there?

Zenit St. Petersburg head to the UEFA Cup final after blowing away Bayern Munich, 4-0. (5-1 on aggregate.)

On the other side we have Rangers from Glasgow. They scraped into the final on penalties after playing to a sluggish, boring 0-0 draw after 120 minutes of defensive football. (The last game against Fiorentina also ended in a 0-0 draw. Seeing a pattern here?)

The only thing interesting about this game for a neutral was seeing how many players Rangers could fit into their own box at one time. It was kind of like watching clowns squeeze into a VW. Look! They’ve got six! Can they do seven? Yep, there’s seven! How about eight? There we go! We have eight! I think the only thing that kept them from cramming eleven in the box in the final minutes was Daniel Cousin’s ejection on a second yellow.

Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but defensive football makes me crabby.

So let’s talk about Zenit instead. How can a team that sits in twelfth place in the Russian league blow away the top German team this completely? To quote the ESPN commentators, this must leave “a bitter taste in the Bayern collective mouth.”

(I love that quote. If only because it makes my brain wander off on a tangent trying to figure out what, exactly, the “Bayern collective mouth” might look like.)

Pavel Pogrebnyak scored on a free kick in the fourth minute for Zenit, followed by Zyrianov in the 39th, Fayzulin in the 54th, and Pogrebnyak again in the 73rd. Bayern Munich had multiple chances but just couldn’t get the breaks. And so Zenit moves on and Bayern goes home.

This led to my second-favorite quote from the ESPN guys, regarding the Champions League final being held in Moscow and the UEFA Cup final in England:

“England fans heading to Moscow. Moscow fans heading to England. Maybe they can do a house swap?”

For more UEFA Cup news, be sure to check out UEFA Cup Offside.

Some Related Stories:

Category: UEFA Cup, World Football

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BILLY

I NOTICE ALOT OF YANKS MAKING NOISES BOUT RANGERS.
NO OFFENCE BUT THE US "SOCCER" FANS ARE WATCHING WSHED UP N WASHED OUT IMPORTS WEEK AFTER WEEK AND WOULD DO WELL TO BEAT RANGERS IN A COMPETATIVE MATCH.
BILLY

IN RESPONSE TO CRAMMIN SEVEN PLAYERS IN THE BOX ETC ETC.
RANGERS FC HAVE MAID IT TO THE FINAL BY HARD WORK AND PLAYING AS A TEAM.

NO ONE SAID ANYTHING BOUT MAN UTD GETTING ONE GOAL AGAINST BARCA AT OLD TRAFFORD THEN PUTTING TEN MEN BEHIND THE BALL.

DIG IN HOLD TIGHT GET YOUR CHANCE TAKE IT

IF YOU ARE PLAYING A BETTER CLASSED TEAM YOUR GONAE GET DOMINATED.

BEAT THEM HOWEVER YOU CAN
areallaticfromthesouth

Rangers have got 7 games in 17 days.

COME ON RANGERS
dave hunter

c'mon the rangers!!!! everyone fails to notice rangers are going for a quadruple!!
Laurie

Shazback, I can always count on readers of this blog to fill me in on the details that the English-speaking press doesn't want to touch.

I was aware that it was early in the season and that Zenit had a game in hand, but wasn't aware of the timing for qualification for European competitions. And what you say about resting players in league play to do well in Europe makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for clarifying the situation.
Drabik

I cant wait for the UEFA cup final. I watched Zenit for the first time against Bayern and was very impressed. They seemed to keep possession and complete passes effortlessly. However, I did end up turning the channel over whilst watching Rangers (missing the penalties).

I hope rangers win the final, as the possibility of a quadruple is an amazing feat. Also, as a Manchester united fan, I would like to play Rangers in the Super Cup.
Shazback

Laurie, Zenit are 12th (out of 16), but they've only played 6 games out of 30, and should they win their game in hand, then they'll go 6th or 7th depending on goal difference... Zenit were Russian champions 2007 (so they'll play in next season's Champions' League, because the Russian league qualifies for a whole year later in UEFA competitions), and this season, although they've only taken 7 points in 6 games, they've only lost one game... Zenit dropped points by fielding "B" sides in order to stay in the running in the UEFA Cup. Sure, Kazan look uncatchable (21 points in 7 games, perfect record so far), but Zenit still are very strong contestants for the second place... They win their game in hand and they're 6th, and only 4 points off Lokomotiv's current 2nd place. When the UEFA Cup is over, they'll stop resting players, and probably get "back to business" (perhaps a few squad changes, but with Gazprom's backing, a fresh UEFA Cup in the trophy cabinet if they win and a sure participation in the next Champions league, I doubt they'll be greatly weakened)... And "back to business" for the current champions is often a winning streak.
joe_mac

cumon u rangers !!! :D
Matt

Oh the Rangers aRE SHITE!*

*If this does not make sense, I am drunk while posting this! comment my blog, bitches!
Nelson

in reference to "id rather watch 2girls1cup" of course

i totally agree that watching Rangers sucks
Nelson

really Jon? really?
Jon

I'd rather watch 2girls1cup then watch the Fiorentina vs. Rangers match all over again. Rangers truly ARE "the anti-football".
Matt

Enjoy 10 behind the ball for 120 minutes and another penalty shoot-out Manchester...
Laurie

Saslol, what it Zenit's standing this season? Everything I'm finding says 12th. Is this incorrect?

And the "Moscow" quote was from ESPN, not from me. I thought it was funny and quoted it. If you want to lay blame for that one, aim it in their direction. :-)
saslol

Yeah ZENIT are thru, but u got some facts wrong a) Zenit were russian champions last season and b) moscow fans won be heading to Manchester because Zenit is from St.Petersburg and therefore bitter rivals of any Moscow club.